WikiLeaks founder is jailed in Britain in sex case

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, back to camera, is driven into Westminster Magistrates Court in London Tuesday Dec. 7, 2010 after being arrested on a European Arrest Warrant. Assange is appearing at the court for his extradition hearing for sexual assault allegations in Sweden.(AP Photo/ Stefan Rousseau/PA) UNITED KINGDOM OUT NO SALES NO ARCHIVE

(AP) -- WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was arrested and jailed without bail Tuesday in a sex-crimes investigation, but his organization scarcely missed a beat, releasing a new batch of the secret cables that U.S. officials say are damaging America's security and relations worldwide.

A month after dropping out of public view, the 39-year-old Australian surrendered to Scotland Yard to answer a warrant issued for his arrest by Sweden. He is wanted for questioning after two women accused him of having sex with them without a condom and without their consent.

Assange said he would fight extradition to Sweden, setting the stage for what could be a pitched legal battle. And as if to prove that it can't be intimidated, WikiLeaks promptly released a dozen new cables, including details of a NATO defense plan for Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania that made Russia bristle.

"That sounds like good news to me," U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on a visit to Afghanistan.

WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson insisted Assange's arrest and the decision Tuesday by both Visa and MasterCard to stop processing donations to the group "will not change our operation." Hrafnsson said the group has no plans yet to carry through on its threat to release en masse some of its most sensitive U.S. documents if it comes under attack.

At a court hearing in London, Assange showed no reaction as Judge Howard Riddle denied him bail while he awaits an extradition hearing Dec. 14. The judge said Assange might flee if released. When the judge asked him whether he would agree to be extradited, Assange said: "I do not consent."

It was not publicly known which jail Assange was sent to, since British police never reveal that for privacy and security reasons. Some prisoners occasionally get Internet access, though only under close supervision.

The U.S. government is investigating whether Assange can be prosecuted for espionage or other offenses. On Tuesday, Pentagon and State Department officials said some foreign officials have suddenly grown reluctant to trust the U.S. because of the secrets spilled by WikiLeaks.

"We have already seen some indications of meetings that used to involve several diplomats and now involve fewer diplomats," said State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley. "We're conscious of at least one meeting where it was requested that notebooks be left outside the room."

Pentagon spokesman Col. Dave Lapan said the military had seen foreign contacts "pulling back."

"Believing that the U.S. is not good at keeping secrets and having secrets out there certainly changed things," Lapan said.

During the hour-long court hearing in London, attorney Gemma Lindfield, acting on behalf of the Swedish authorities, outlined the allegations of rape, molestation and unlawful coercion that were brought against Assange following separate sexual encounters in August with two women in Sweden.

Lindfield said one woman accused Assange of pinning her down and refusing to use a condom on the night of Aug. 14 in Stockholm. That woman also accused of Assange of molesting her in a way "designed to violate her sexual integrity" several days later. A second woman accused Assange of having sex with her without a condom while he was a guest at her Stockholm home and she was asleep.

A person who has sex with an unconscious, drunk or sleeping person in Sweden can be convicted of rape and sentenced to two to six years in prison.

Assange's lawyers have claimed the accusations stem from disputes "over consensual but unprotected sex" and say the women made the claims only after finding out that Assange had slept with both.

Prosecutors in Sweden have not brought any formal charges against Assange. WikiLeaks lawyer Mark Stephens said there are doubts as to whether Sweden has the legal right to extradite him simply for questioning.

Experts say European arrest warrants like the one issued by Sweden can be tough to beat. Even if the warrant were defeated on a technicality, Sweden could simply issue a new one.

The extradition process could take anywhere from a week to two months, according to Assange's Swedish lawyer Bjorn Hurtig. If Assange loses, he may appeal to the High Court. There can be further appeals, and Sweden also has a right to appeal if the court finds in Assange's favor.

In the meantime, Stephens said he would reapply for bail, noting that several prominent Britons - including socialite Jemima Khan and filmmaker Ken Loach - have each offered to post 20,000 pounds ($31,500) so Assange could go free.

Australian government officials said they are providing Assange with consular assistance, as they do with any countryman arrested abroad. The consul general in London spoke to Assange to ensure he had legal representation, the government said.

Some people protested outside the London court, bearing signs reading, "Save Wikileaks, Save Free Speech" and "Trumped Up Charges."

"I came to show my support for Julian," said 26-year-old electrician Kim Krasniqi. "He is innocent. Europe is bullying him, They don't want him to publish what he is publishing."

The latest batch of confidential U.S. cables could strain relations between Washington and Moscow. The documents show that NATO secretly decided in January to defend the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania against military attack.

Dmitry Rogozin, Russia's ambassador to NATO, said Tuesday that Moscow will demand that NATO drop the agreement, which he argued is clearly aimed at his country.

"Against whom else could such a defense be intended? Against Sweden, Finland, Greenland, Iceland? Against polar bears, or against the Russian bear?" Rogozin said.

(AP) -- The elusive Australian behind the biggest leak of U.S. war documents in history is wanted by Sweden in a drawn-out rape probe, and could soon face an international arrest warrant curtailing his ability ...

(AP) -- Swedish prosecutors defended their handling of a rape allegation against the founder of WikiLeaks, saying Sunday that they had made no mistakes in issuing an arrest warrant and withdrawing it less ...

(AP) -- The law is closing in on Julian Assange. Swedish authorities won a court ruling Thursday in their bid to arrest the WikiLeaks founder for questioning in a rape case, British intelligence is said to ...

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Of course it's political, and honestly I wouldn't have us do it MUCH different than China would. The bastard deserves to die for the lives he's cost others. I couldn't call him a "traitor" because he's not a US citizen, but he could certainly be classified as an enemy of the United States government.

What, you kick a 2000 lb. bull in the nuts and you expect it to just sit there? The man is evil, stupid (not ignorant), and an immature cry baby. He's getting EXACTLY what he deserves...

The only difference is after a trial in which he'd have a chance to be acquitted he'd stand on death row until he probably died of natural causes...and the method in which we killed him wouldn't be billed to his family.

Of course it's political, and honestly I wouldn't have us do it MUCH different than China would. The bastard deserves to die for the lives he's cost others. I couldn't call him a "traitor" because he's not a US citizen, but he could certainly be classified as an enemy of the United States government.

What, you kick a 2000 lb. bull in the nuts and you expect it to just sit there? The man is evil, stupid (not ignorant), and an immature cry baby. He's getting EXACTLY what he deserves...

The only difference is after a trial in which he'd have a chance to be acquitted he'd stand on death row until he probably died of natural causes...and the method in which we killed him wouldn't be billed to his family.

How do you feel about Daniel Ellsberg, Mehdi Hashemi, Fawn Hall, and Mark Felt?

How do you feel about Daniel Ellsberg, Mehdi Hashemi, Fawn Hall, and Mark Felt?

Without having the slightest clue who any of those people are (nor do I probably care to), if they disclosed classified information that got people killed I'd feel the same way. If they didn't I might feel differently.

How do you feel about Daniel Ellsberg, Mehdi Hashemi, Fawn Hall, and Mark Felt?

Without having the slightest clue who any of those people are (nor do I probably care to), if they disclosed classified information that got people killed I'd feel the same way. If they didn't I might feel differently.

I do know who D. Ellsberg is although I'm not a US citizen. I'm astonished that you as US citizen make sweeping political statements but don't even know D. Ellsberg.

I as well am quite surprised. Mystic, how do you know so little of your own history, especially such an important and recent part of it?

Also, for the record, name one person that Assange is responsible for the death of. Many studies have been done trying to determine his culpability in this regard and none of them have ever turned up any evidence that his leaks are responsible or even relatable to deaths or even injury.

Maybe you should read a bit more, maybe learn some history. This is almost as nuts as the fact you didn't know that there is still compelled communion in the world today, or that there was forced communion in Europe in many countries until the past decade. It's just mind blowingly ignorant, man.

Yeah I'm not knowledgeable in the area leftist twit political radicals...sorry. I'm EXTREMELY ignorant of such, and quite frankly could care less about them either.

Frajo, the fact that you find me "intellectually deficient" because I don't know who these people are is a true compliment. Thank you for it. It helps me assess your ethics and priorities as well, although unlike you I'm not a bit surprised to see where you fall on the spectrum.

You know what they say about opinions gents, they're a lot like other things all people have, which after your recent posts here you resemble pretty closely.

On edit: You know I really notice a strong strain of the "need for approval" in leftists in general. Goes along with that sheepish herd mentality you all seem to have. The fact that you project this on me or anyone else is very telling. Like your disapproval somehow "punishes" me or something kinda tickles me. Funny stuff :-)

(cont) I also find it strange that you focus on the fact that I didn't know who people were rather than the general statement I made.

I'll ask YOU a question, a REAL question. If someone leaks classified information that does actually get people killed do you think they're culpable at all? If not do you think that the government should be able to keep any secrets at all? If so, then on what basis??

"the case of Katrina Leung, who was accused of starting an affair with an FBI agent to gain sensitive documents from him."

"Shi Pei Pu, a Chinese opera singer from Beijing who convinced a French diplomat that he was a woman, and spied on France."

"spied on Uighur expatriates living in the country."

"Stefan Zielonka, a Polish cipher officer working for the Military Information Services, disappeared. He is suspected of providing the Chinese government with Polish and NATO cryptography information. Zielonka's body was later retrieved..."

"Babur Maihesuti, a Chinese Uighur who became a Swedish citizen was arrested for spying on the Uighur refugee communities"

"Some people in Nepal suspected that Gyanendra was responsible for the Nepalese royal massacre in liaison with Ministry of State Security of the People's Republic of China"cont-

That was just from part of the first wiki article, the link to which you apparently intentionally replaced with one to another wiki page when you quoted it...?

The exerpts clearly depict instances where chinese operative targeted individuals or groups to surveil, deceive, blackmail, or murder. One wiki article, successive paragraphs. Think they indicate a pattern? Think they reveal a pattern of deception and denial from frajo?

Either you lied when you said you read it, or you lied about the contents of it.

Get some tuition in data mining, ask marjon.

Get some instruction on lying from your chinese buddies.

And frajo totally discounts the persecution and murder of millions within chinas borders, with the help of their intelligence services, as evinced in the articles. They do this to their own citizens, can they be expected to act differently toward their enemies abroad?

Yeah I'm not knowledgeable in the area leftist twit political radicals...sorry. I'm EXTREMELY ignorant of such, and quite frankly could care less about them either.

Mark Felt is also known as Associate Director Felt of the FBI. He was about as far from democrat as one could be in his time. He was actually convicted of violating the right of suspected Weather Underground members. Fawn Hall was Oliver North's hand picked Secretary. Mehdi Hashemi was a senior member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Daniel Ellsberg was an Intelligence analyst and devout Christian Scientist.

So what exactly is a 'leftist' in your world?

I'll ask YOU a question, a REAL question. If someone leaks classified information that does actually get people killed do you think they're culpable at all? If not do you think that the government should be able to keep any secrets at all? If so, then on what basis??

I believe information is free, what is done with that information comes from them.

You know I really notice a strong strain of the "need for approval" in leftists in general. Goes along with that sheepish herd mentality you all seem to have. The fact that you project this on me or anyone else is very telling. Like your disapproval somehow "punishes" me or something kinda tickles me. Funny stuff :-)

We're not trying to punish you for not knowing something. I certainly don't expect everyone I meet to know everything I know, por to agree with everything I think. The exchange of information and rational conversation supported by evidence and observation when possible is what elevates all of us socially, morally, technologically and it is the core essence of what makes us human.

We're trying to get you to stop shutting down when you enter territory in which you may be unfamiliar, like this topic. You don't need to parrot the bullshit that other people spout, and it is damn obvious when you do because you get like this when you've been refuted. Cut it out.

SH I know what you were doing, or at least I know what frajo was doing, being a ****ing jerk. We, all of us, have dealt with people long enough in our lives to know when our chain is being jerked...please don't insult my intelligence OK?

The "territory" in this topic is NOT unfamiliar to me. I understand what it means to disclose classified information. I know what I consider a valid reason (Watergate for instance) and what I consider a personal vendetta because someone doesn't like a country's policies like this jack ass Assange.

Everyone can read between the lines here and you don't need to know anything about niche history to get it...

I found the US's gov pursuit of Julian Assange strangely echoes the alledged sex case against him. He "screwed" with the US gov without protection (redacting all the embarassing stuff), without consent and unlawful(govs screw people, not vice versa). So the plaintif is predictably sueing for damages...

It seems a battle line is being drawn here (for the objectors, these posts are legitimate-it regards political science. After all, Physorg is a science website, does it not?

I respect MM for being singulaly brutally honest in his conviction, of his black-n-white view of geo-political landscape. Nothing out of normality here. The Iraelis has done the same, giving the finger to everyone else on the planet re their actions, pursuing every Nazis still breathing O2 in the cause of revenge justice. None in history has such determined push to root out and persecute the guilty to the last man as long as the Israelis. Some of the small-fry Nazis are in their 90s. We just hope that the Israeli Nazis Hunters would runout/rundown all targets in another 10 years or so, to complete their peaceful accounting of their sufferings...In anther 50 years, perhaps the Palestinians would do the same for the next 100 years. Such is karma, you'll reap what you sow.

(cont.)The issue here is "what is right" is contestable, under the frameworks of free speech and existing laws. As it so happenened countless time, laws can be changed to suit the agenda, so the "right[s],"laws", and f**k all are all Einsteinian relatives. As the Chinese said: " Who have the biggest fist, has the right".

So, i guess that If these females hadn't found out he was involved in more than one game, they still would feel special and wouldn't have their precious feelings/expectations hurt by a typical cheating jerk and try to pay him back in another way? C'mon look at Assange, he hardly as the physical posture to violently pindown females, I could be wrong, but this story has a sour grapes taste all over it.

Also, SH, if information is free...post your credit card number for us :-)

You couldn't do anything with it if I did. They're called precautions, you should take them.

Secondly, Assange is classified as a journanlist. He's protected by the first amendment. The media is saying otherwise because Assange was caught doing their job for them. The run up of rape charges, which are laughable at best, is all over the media because it's the only way they can clean the egg off their faces.

I don't care if he is from Austria, throw another shrimp on the Barbie and yodel, "Merry Christmas" to all jerks and morons and spies and traitors and Give it break!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!If you cannot use your own name, don't post negative ravings, even if true."No one expects the Spanish Inquisition...!!!!!"

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